Hat S: Hat
by StackofStories
Summary: Part One of my Hat Series. Did you know that Nick Mallory gave Corey his trademark beanie?


**I noticed this fanfiction community had a severe lack of yaoi/slash/boy love so, I'm here to remedy that. ;3 Flames are welcome. Pre-slash. This is the beginning of my Hat series, I don't own Grojband. Bad grammar. **

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**Hat**

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Corey trudged in the house after his parents, his Batman hood pulled up tight. He kept his face down as he took to the stairs, one step after another instead of his usual two. The stairs under him made creaky squeaks, the perfect musical background to his self-proclaimed walk of shame.

It was only when he arrived in the solitude of his room did he dare let down his hood. He took a deep breath as to steady himself for what he knew was truly a horrifying sight. Ever so slowly did he lift his head up to stare at his mirror image. His pale hands gripped the edges of his black hood, his eyes narrowing just a smidge, and he pulled down. Hard and fast. Just like taking off a Band-Aid.

Gasp. His hair was his only thought. He picked at his short, crooked blue locks. His life was over!

***wicked cool transition***

"Corey Riffin, you stop your moping and come down here!" shrilled his mother. Corey sighed, pulling up his hood once again. He had been alone in his room since early this afternoon and now it was edging closer to nine at night. He guessed he had to face the public sometime soon.

He jumped off his bed and headed out of his room. He took to the stairs one at a time, keeping his head carefully down. After twenty four steps he stopped at the last one, the twenty fifth, and waited. He debated if he should actually seek his mother out or just wait at the bottom of the stairs. She said come down here; she didn't say come to her.

Decisions decisions. Either way, he was sure his mother would make him take off his hood and let everyone see his horrendous haircut.

"Corey!" his mother sounded again, this time much closer. She swept into the room where the front stairs and door met. Corey spared a glance at her noticing that she was dressed rather nicely in a cream-colored white dress, which suited her bubblegum-pink hair rather well. His father and his sister, Katrina, were also dressed similarly.

"Cor," she said softly, "won't you take down the hood, sweetie?" she asked. He shook his head, no. Katrina would laugh and make fun of him for months, maybe even years, if he dared to do that.

His mother blew through her nose and Corey could just tell his mother was about to order him to take off his hood and if didn't listen…, he shuddered to think of the impending consequences. Just then, the doorbell rang. His mother's attention was successfully diverted.

"Nick Mallory," his whole family (minus him) greeted in unison. At this, Corey did lift his head up fully. He had to see this, bad haircut or not!

Nick Mallory was the cutest boy in all of fourth grade and the future boyfriend and husband of Katrina's, or at least that was what his sister's diary said. So yeah, Corey thought he was pretty important to have his sister squealing as if she had heard the newest Justinian Beaver album.

He watched Nick Mallory stroll through the door in unabashed awe. He was taller than him with golden brown hair and blue eyes. He was cool in a rather subtle way like no one could ever come close to touching him. Corey clutched his hood even tighter, tugging it further over his head.

"This is Corey," his mother said, "he's feeling a bit shy tonight since he got his new haircut, but he should be back to his normal self in an hour or two." His mother laughed shortly. "I left some money on the counter if you want some pizza or whatever. We should be back by twelve. All numbers are on the fridge."

His mother shuffled over to him. She pecked him on the forehead once, whispering, "Be good." She then grabbed ahold of Katrina's wrist, walking out the door with her in tow. His father following right behind her. He only waited for a moment the tell-tell sound of the car starting began and a few more thereafter, for the car to pull out of the driveway, leaving him and Nick alone.

"Nick thinks it's a pleasure to meet you, little bro," Nick said. He held out his hand.

Corey stared, wide-eyed, at the appendage for a single second before he turned on his heel and fled upstairs to his bedroom. He was too uncool for someone like Nick.

In his bedroom, he closed his door and hid under his covers, still wearing his Batman hood. He wasn't coming out until Nick left and his parents came home. If he got hungry or thirsty he still had tons of juice boxes and candy from Halloween. He was prepared to stay in his bedroom for good.

Forever passed for Corey, (an hour and thirty minutes) until his bedroom door opened a crack. "Can Nick come in?" his babysitter asked. Corey wanted to yell a big fat, 'NO!', but he sensed Nick would ignore him and come in anyway. So, he kept quiet in the end, shifting further underneath his sheets.

The door opened a bit more. Corey heard footsteps and then the added weight of someone else on his mattress.

"Nick digs little bro's Justice Friends sheets. Nick's favorite superhero is Major Glory."

Corey let out an audible snort at that. Major Glory was nothing compared to Rock God, Valhallen.

"Oh? Nick hears a sound of disapproval. Little bro has another opinion?"

Corey clammed up. He mentally berated himself; he was ignoring Nick and hiding in his bedroom (even if it had been infiltrated). He was already messing up by responding to Nick. Ahh, this was hard for him. He had never been this quiet before.

"Nick grows tired of little bro's silence. Nick is going back downstairs," Nick said with a sigh. Corey felt the dip of mattress disappear. He heard Nick's soft footsteps heading away and the closing of his door. He waited for a few precautionary seconds to make sure he was gone before he withdrew from under his covers. His eyes grew wide when he saw Nick leaning against his closed door, a smirk on his face.

"You tricked me!" Corey squawked, completely forgetting about his vow of utter silence. He made a move to throw his covers back on his head, but Nick was too fast. In a split second he was on his back with Nick on top of him, his legs were held down by Nick's weight, and his wrists were caught in Nick's hand.

He was trapped.

"Nick is surprised. Nick thought little bro was mute or something."

Corey pressed his lips together, turning his gaze upward. His ceiling was white as the shell of an egg. His mother said he wasn't allowed to decorate the ceiling until the mortgage was paid off and her and his father decided they wanted to stay in the house for good. He thought about putting the biggest poster of his biggest musical hero on the ceiling to stare at every night for inspirational purposes. He hadn't told anyone yet, but he was gonna start a band, and be the best band in the history of—; what was Nick doing?!

He tried to squirm any from Nick's prying hand. It was getting too close to his hood. He twisted, he bucked, and he even kicked, but to no avail. Nick's fingers touched the fabric of his hood, wrenching it down. His haircut was revealed!

Unwillingly, tears started to form in the corner of Corey's eyes. He wasn't going to cry. Nu uh. He was big boy of six-years-old, crying was for babies, and he wasn't a baby anymore. He sniffed once, twice, three times… tears were rolling down his cheeks at a breakneck pace. He wasn't— he wasn't— he wasn't gonn— CRY!

He let out a soft wail. His hair, it was ugly and stupid, and Nick would surely tell everyone. All his classmates and the rest of Peaceville would surely tease him now. He'd be worse than Booger Billy~!

"Little bro," Nick said softly as he released Corey from his hold. He rolled to the side, digging into his jean pocket, from which he produced a wad of tissues, "Crying is so uncool."

Corey swiped a tissue, rubbing at his eyes and his nose, "B-but, you'll hate me now cuz of my h-hideous haircut!" he exclaimed.

Nick handed him another tissue. "Nick agrees that it is a horrid haircut, but Nick wouldn't hate little bro because of it. Hate is not cool by any means."

"Really?" Corey sniffed.

"Nick doesn't lie," Nick said with a smile. Corey timidly returned the smile.

"Now, if little bro agrees to help make dinner and watch a movie with Nick, then, Nick will help hide little bro's haircut in a more subtle manner," his babysitter propositioned.

"Okay!" he instantly agreed. His tears were no more. He followed Nick downstairs before he added, "My name is Corey, but you can call me Cor."

Nick flicked his nose affectionately, "Ok, Cor."

***bro bonding transition***

Corey yawned. He took a minute to rub his eyes and stretch before he got his good old brain running. It took a sec for him to realize, that one, he was not in his bed, two, his hood was down, and three, Nick was nowhere in sight.

He yawned once more, inching off the blue living couch; his first stop was the bathroom. After that was done, his second stop was to the kitchen where the delicious smell of pancakes and waffles was located.

"Good morning, momma," he said.

His mother turned to him with a sunny smile. She played with the knobs of the stove, and then began to fill up his plate. He grinned when he realized he was going to get the freshest part of his mother's breakfast. Usually, he was the last one to come down for breakfast and by then everything was cold and picked over. Katrina, his evil older sister, never woke up him up on time, and his parents went along with it, always muttering, that Katrina would never intentionally sabotage him.

Pfft, and the sky was green.

His mother sat his plate down, kissing him on the forehead. She slid into a seat across from him with her usual cup of coffee. "Did you have fun with Nick last night?" she inquired.

Corey nodded with a big grin. His mother mirrored him. "Good," she said, "maybe next time we go out, we can get him to babysit for you again."

That sounded like an awesome idea, he was so happy. He just settled for a huge grin to display his inner happiness. His mother laughed at him and got up, sipping her coffee. "Nick left you something in your bedroom, sweetie," she said as she headed out the kitchen. Corey assumed she was going to get ready for work like she always did after making breakfast. But~! That wasn't the most important thing; Nick left him something!

He gobbled up the rest of his breakfast, forgoing his usual glass of orange juice this morning. He loaded his dirty dishes in the dishwasher, washed his hands, and then ran upstairs. His room was the one at the very end of the hall. He dashed in his room then jumped on the bed. His gift was on his pillow.

He managed to control himself at that point, his mother had taught him good manners after all. He grabbed the piece of notebook paper first, it read:

Cor,  
Nick got you a hat.  
–Nick M.

Wow, short and sweet. Straight to the point. The note fell to the side as he laid eyes on the piece of material of his bed. He picked it up carefully, noticing that it was incredibly soft, and dyed in his second favorite color, orange. He placed the beanie on his head, noticing that it was a bit too big for him, but he reasoned that he'd eventually grow into it.

He slid off his bed and veered slightly to the right where his full-body mirror was placed. He pushed up his beanie a bit, appraising himself. He looked good. The beanie was the perfect accessory to his person. He leaned in extra close to the glass when he noticed a speck of white on his beanie.

He pulled the cap off and glanced down at the front; a skull. It was small, sewed directly in the middle where it could be seen. He placed the hat back on, his stare finding its way back to the mirror.

He suddenly broke out into a grin. He looked wicked cool in his new beanie.

Thank you, Nick Mallory.


End file.
